The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-06-01

of gambler for his victim.
In the third watch of the night, also,
drunkenness does its worst The drinking
will be respectable at s o'clock in the evening,
little flushed at nine, talkative and garru-
louS at ten, at elcven blasphemous, at twelve
floor asking for more drink. Strewn through
the drinking saloons Of the city, fathers,
brothers, husbands, sons, as good as you are
by nature, perhaps better.
In the high circles of society it is hushed up.
A merchant prince, if he gets noisy and un-
controllabe, is taken by his fellow-revelers,
who try to get him to bed or take him home,
where he falls fat in the entry. DO not
wake up the children. They have had
disgrace enough. Do not let them know
it. Hush it up. But sometimes it cannot
be hushed up, when the rum touches the brain
and the man becomes thoroughly frenzled.
Such an one came home, having been absent
for some time, and during his absence his
wife had died, and she lay in the next room
prepared for the obsequies, and he went IN
and dragged her by the locks, and shook her
out of her shroud. and pitched her out of the
window.
Oh. when rum touches the brain you can
not hush it up. Ny friends, you see all
around you the need that something radical
be done. You do not see the worst. In the
midnight meetings in London great multi
tude have been saved. We want few hum
dred Christian men and women to come down
from the highest circles Of society to toll
amid these wandering aad destitute ones, and
kindle up light in the dark alley, even the
gladneSS Of heaven.
Do not 90 wrapped in fine apparel and
from your well-filled tables with the idea that
pous talk is going to stop the gnawing OF an
empty stomach or to warm stocking less feet
Take bread, take raiment, take medicine as
well as take prayer. There is great deal
OF common-sense in what the poor woman said
/ to the city missionary when he was telling her
how she ought to love God and serve Him.
oh" she said, IF you We're poor and cold
as l am, and as hungry, you could think Of
| nothing else"
A great deal Of what is called Christian
work goes for nothing for the simple reason
it is not practical; as after the battle of An
| tietam u man got out OF an ambulance with
bag OF tracts, and he went distributing the
tracts and George Stewart, one of the best
Christian men III this country, said to him:
| What are you distributing tracts for nowl
There are three thousand men bleeding to
death Bind up their wounds, and then dis
tribute the tracts"
we want more common-se in Christian
work, taking the bread Of this life in one
| hand and the bread OF the next life In the
! other hand. No such inapt work as that
| by the Christian man who, during the last
war, went into hospital with tracts, and
coming to the bed Of a man whose legs had
been amputated, gave him tract on the
sin Of dancing! 1 rejoice before God that
never are sympathetic words uttered, never
a prayer offered, never Christian almsgiv-
ing indulged in but it is blessed.
There is place in Switzerland, have
been told, where the utterance or one word
will bring back score OF echoes; and l have
to tell you this morning that sympathetic
word. kind word. a generous word. help